Fraud to Increase During Online Holiday Shopping

Holiday shopping is here and so is the growth in the gifts that no one wants, but we keep on receiving— which is fraud. New research from ACI Worldwide shows that cyber thieves will be increasing on the prowl to lift payment card information in an effort to commit online fraud. ACI said its data was based on analysis of hundreds of millions of large global retailers, from the beginning of this year through July.

As has been widely noted, the continued adoption by merchants and issuers across the United States of EMV to gain some new measures of security means that CNP fraud will be an avenue that continues to entice criminals.

ACI’s own data showed that fraud rates, as measured for CNP, have been on the rise this year. At its most recent measurement, CNP fraud attempts took place across one out of every 86 transactions, up markedly from one of every 114 transactions last year.The growth comes as consumers have been moving toward using their mobile devices to buy items online and also as card issuers themselves move relatively more slowly to take down accounts in the wake of fraudulent attacks.

As quoted by Reuters, “When it comes to fraud, 2015 is likely among the riskiest season retailers have ever seen,” Mike Braatz, senior vice president of payments risk management for ACI Worldwide, said. “It is critical that they prepare for a significant uptick in fraud, particularly within eCommerce channels.”

Looking toward the future, the research firm stated that there will likely be more activity on the horizon for “buy online and pick up in store” attempts at fraud. That transactional activity, in terms of attempted malfeasance, is going to jump 28 percent this year during the holiday shopping season from last year. Retailers don’t mandate re-running cards when consumers come to pick up items they ordered online, said ACI.

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